Pay It Forward
by Child-1763
Summary: They were thrown together by chance and she ended up saving his life. Causing him to pay it forward in a big way. Previously Guardian Angel


**Pay It Forward**

**One-Shot**

She was just sitting there, relaxing, when he stumbled into her life. Literally. She stared down at the guy sitting in the abandoned room across from her in surprise. Instantly, she was on her feet, her gun pointed at his head and a cold expression on her face.

"Who are you?" She demanded, taking a small step forward and gesturing with her gun. "Come on, tell me."

"Woah." He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture as he struggled to his feet. "Come on, I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here." She lowered her gun as she stared at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I was just running from the Walkers, I didn't mean to run into someone else." She stared at him in dawning horror and groaned as her arms dropped next to her sides.

"You led them right here? Are you insane?" He turned defensive as he watched her gather her stuff up.

"Hey, I just said it was an accident, give a guy some slack." She glared over at him and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, now follow me." He just stood there staring at her suspiciously and she stared at him exasperatedly. "Look you wanna be torn apart? Now come on!" She ran out of the door and smiled as she heard him following. They ran down a couple of hallways before they reached a small door with an exit sign above it.

"What's out there?" He asked breathlessly, staring at it warily. She shot him a grim smile.

"An alley, never know what's out there so get ready to run."

"Wait." She looked over at him impatiently and rose her eyebrow as he shifted awkwardly. "I'm Glenn, who're you?" She gave a snort and shot him a contemplative look as she turned the handle.

"If we make it out, I'll tell you, alright?" He gave her an incredulous look as she busted out of the door and took off. He let out a squeak and stumbled a bit before he caught up with her. He glanced back and gulped as he spotted a small horde of Walkers stumbling after them. "HURRY UP!" Glenn looked up in time to see her turn a corner and picked up his pace to catch up. He ran right into her back and let out a gasp at the an even larger horde staring right at them.

"Shit." Glenn commented weakly causing the girl to look back, she rose an eyebrow and started running even faster. He followed close on her heels and yelped as he barely dodged one particularly frightening old lady.

"Up ahead!" He nodded back at the girl as she gestured towards a fire-escape. He put his head down and pumped his arms harder as they raced for the ladder. They made it at the same time and she gestured for him to go first. He hesitated and she grabbed his arm and pushed him at it. "GO!" She roared as she ran in the opposite direction. He stared at her in confusion before the growling grew loud enough to push him into motion.

The girl came running back with a grate and scrambled towards him. A walker got there at the same time and she cursed as she had to stop and drop the grate to kill it. She picked the grate back up and shouted in surprise as a walker grabbed her arm and she wrenched it away before managing to get up the ladder. She pushed the walker away again as she grabbed the grate and wedged it across the opening. She stopped for a moment to pant for breath and watched the walkers gather underneath it.

"Are you coming?" Glenn asked uncertainly, she looked up and gave him a strained smile. They soon reached the rooftop and collapsed on it to catch their breath. He looked over to see the girl staring up at the sky with a few tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked awkwardly, shuffling his feet. She gave him a small smile as she wiped her eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, come on, let's see where we are." They started to explore the rooftop and after a few moments Glenn called her over. It was another fire-escape, but it let down just around the corner from the other one. "Shit." She muttered, running a hand through her hair. Glenn nodded sadly.

"We'll never get down without something distracting them." She got a strange look on her face as she looked at him. He shuffled his feet and looked around nervously. "What?" She gave a strained smile.

"I'll be the distraction." Glenn felt his mouth drop open and he stared at her before shaking his head frantically.

"No, no, I can't have you risk your life for me!"

"I don't have a life anymore." She said bitterly, holding out her arm. Glenn looked at it confused before his expression cleared and he stared horrified at the three long scratches down her arm.

"Wha-, when?" He asked quietly, taking her arm and gently tracing them. She watched him with sad eyes.

"When I was climbing up the ladder." He looked up at her sadly and impulsively drew her into a hug. She stiffened for a moment before hugging him back.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear, she chuckled and wiped at her eyes as she pushed him away.

"It's okay, it's how this world is now." Glenn sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. She chuckled as she reached into the backpack she was carrying and took out a baseball cap. She stroked it for a moment before jamming it onto his head. He gave her a confused look and she just smirked. "It's a gift," Her smirk grew wider. "Short-round."

"I'm Korean." He said with an offended frown causing her to frown.

"Isn't he Korean?"

"No, he's from Vietnam."

"Oh." They stared at each other awkwardly before she chuckled. "Sorry, you just look like him so much." Glenn rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. "So, I guess we should get it over with." The mood instantly sobered up and he stared at her intently.

"It's okay." He muttered awkwardly as he gave her a hug and rubbed her back. She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Joy, my name is Joy."

"Nice to meet you, Joy, I'm Glenn." Joy shook his hand with a smile, but a few more tears escaped her and she let out a shuddering breath. She looked over at the edge before looking back at him. He took her hand and they walked over to the ledge together.

"Just gotta destroy the brain." She muttered quietly, not even to him, but he still squeezed her hand and nodded. She looked over at him and stepped up onto the ledge to look down at the horde below, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes as she did so. There were a lot more now and she paled lightly. Glenn ran his thumb over her palm and she looked at him, her blue eyes wide and tearful. "Just like going to sleep right?" He nodded weakly.

"Just like going to sleep." He echoed, giving her hand another squeeze. Joy nodded back at him and let go of his hand. She took a deep breath and let it out before suddenly jumping off. Glenn closed his eyes as he heard a large thump and the horde below started growling louder. He rushed over to the fire-escape and scurried down it. He saw the horde scrambling together in a large pile and felt bile rise in his throat before he choked it down and ran away down the street. He glanced back as he reached the end of the alleyway before running as fast as he could out of the city.

It was weeks later when he heard the gunshots and rushed to peer out into the street. A guy was fighting his way through a horde of Walkers and Glenn watched horrified as he slid under the tank and was trapped underneath. He suddenly appeared at the top and pulled down the cover, shutting out all the Walkers trying to get at him. Glenn shook his head and started to turn away when he caught sight of the rim of the baseball cap on his head. He reached up to pull it off and stared at it for a few beats before cursing and pulling out his walkie-talkie.

"Hey you."


End file.
